


Stop Reminiscing

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [68]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 16:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11513289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Prompt from lilycolloway: klarolineau + i hate u i love u by gnash feat. olivia o'brien (the angst is soooo good help)/Post-canon TVD





	Stop Reminiscing

She was in the bathroom putting on makeup, unaware - or more likely ignoring the fact - he watched her from the bed. Over the decades, after all, in hotel rooms just like that Parisian suite, she must have grown used to the sensation. He did love watching Caroline in her most unguarded moments.

Even in his agitation at the moment, his fingers itched to draw the exact shape of her eye as he focused on lining her lips.

But his eyes couldn't linger on her face; no, they kept drifting down to the gap in her shirt, where the glint of her necklace boiled his blood. The simple ring on a silver chain was a familiar sight after fifty years, and it had elicited many emotions from him during that time: grief, anger, compassion, jealousy.

He felt jealous that Caroline would never fully be his, not as long as the ghost of Stefan Salvatore hung around her neck.

She didn't wear it all the time. When they ran into each other at the Opera House, she had been wearing the ruby pendant Klaus bought for her in India; its dark red color matched that of her monster's eyes. Her neck had been bare the night before when he peeled a little black dress away from her beautiful skin and she gasped his name.

After only a week exploring the city together, though, the infernal ring appeared yet again.

Six months in Tokyo, three in Rome. She managed just a week with him in Paris; if her pattern held, Caroline would be on a plane the next day. That damn ring always meant her leaving.

Nothing lasted forever, but grief came close. Perhaps the same was true for longing.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or do you just want to stew in your thoughts for a while?" His eyes glanced up in surprise, meeting her own unimpressed gaze in the mirror. Caroline shrugged when he didn't respond. "I don't mind either way, I'd probably get more shopping done without you trying to weasel into the fitting rooms with me."

Klaus bristled at the easy way she dismissed him: from her plans, from her life. But she could still clutch to her dead husband's memory after half a century.

Not one to fight a losing battle, he knew what he had to do, even if he hated the thought of conceding defeat. When he spoke with his head hung low, his voice felt raw, the words like burning ash in his throat. "I can't do this anymore."

He felt the stillness in the room as they both lost their breath at his confession. Weak and mortal in the face of a baby vampire's rejection, he realized it didn't matter what he could offer; instead, she mourned another long gone.

He felt used.

With a helpless chuckle, Caroline watched him warily. "You're tired of me already?"

"Don't," he snapped, harsh. His fists curled tightly on his knees, the stretch of his tendons loud in the following silence.

And then she was kneeling in front of him, her hands gently lifting his face to her wide eyes. "Hey, you're scaring me." Caroline's thumb stroked his cheekbone, and he couldn't help but lean into her warm palm. "I thought we were good, we were having such a good week."

Before he could let her soothe his angst, a tiny metallic scrape dropped his eyes again to the silver chain and the ring he knew dangled at the end of it. "A good week," he muttered, angrily wrenching himself from her grasp and off the bed altogether. "He gets fifty years, and I get a week."

Though she had risen with him, Caroline's knees buckled beneath her. Her voice turned faint. "W-what?"

Forcing himself to keep from touching her, Klaus shook his head. "Year after year, I let you wander into my life, only to wander away just as easily. I hate that I want you, that I miss you when you're gone." He flashed toward her, stopping just an inch from her face with his fist gripping the silver chain. "Yet I am right here, and you're missing someone else."

A familiar anger lit in her eyes. "You don't know what you're talking about," she warned.

"Don't I?" he challenged. "I will never mean as much to you, you will always want him more."

Caroline stared, her brow furrowed in consternation and her voice fell to a murmur. "He didn't get fifty years." She brought her hands back up to Klaus's face, making him look at her. "He didn't even get a full day."

"I hate you," Klaus realized sadly. He hated that she could make him mourn her loss, that his heart ached for her the same as it did his own pain. Over half a century, and all he wanted was to ease her sorrow. Caroline made him weak, for a reason he hated to acknowledge. But with her teary eyes on him, the words burst from his chest anyway. "I love you."

Her chest swelled with a deep, broken breath. "I know."

His teeth ground together. "Then you know I can't be with you. Not while you're still another man's wife, even in memory."

With a wan smile, Caroline covered his hand with her own, both of them holding the simple metal that opened a chasm between them. "I don't wear it to remember being his wife," she promised. "I wear it to remember being a widow."

Klaus frowned, his forehead leaning down to hers. Still, he waited for her to explain.

"You," she sighed, looking for the words. "You make me so happy, and all happiness has ever brought me is loss. The fear that I'll lose you? It's paralyzing, because I love you, too." Caroline reached for his lips, kissing him softly. "This ring helps to remind me that I'm strong enough to handle that loss when it comes."

Finally, Klaus released the ring to bring his hands to her face. "You can't lose me, love."

She snorted. "What happened to the guy ready to walk away because of a stupid ring?"

"He didn't know you loved him." Klaus drew her in closer, nuzzling his nose against her cheek. "Then you weren't leaving?"

Her lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "I didn't track you down in Paris to not collect on my last love," she admitted.

Sliding his hands down to her hips, Klaus pinned her with a stern glare. "Be careful," he said softly. "I won't let you go."

"That's kinda the point, Klaus." Caroline rolled her eyes as her fingers traced the line of his necklaces. "But the ring is a part of me, too. Can you handle that?"

He kissed her, deep and lingering. "You'll be the death of me."

Caroline grinned, cuddling into him. "Not if I can help it," she promised.


End file.
